Good Buy Indie Stores

I feel guilty about the recent closing of two local indie record stores (Aron's on Highland and Santa Monica, and Rhino Records on Westwood Blvd.) Both stores were total landmarks for collectors of rare, hard-to-find music and lovers of indie rock and electronica. Apparently, they had been losing business over the years to stores such as Best Buy, Circuit City, Virgin Mega Store and most recently to the independent, but gigantic Ameoba Records. I remember that before any of the above-mentioned culprid stores started selling music or were in business, I used to go to Aron's and Rhino to find the stuff I liked that no one else carried. Aron's and Rhino Records and apparently other such stores around the country have also fallen victim to the downloading of music on the internet. People can now buy songs on I-Tunes for 99 cents, not bothering to buy a whole album! Will albums, a collection of songs put together by an artist, someday become obsolete? I am a proud collector of music! Records. Compact discs. Even tapes. I am planning on getting an I-Pod soon (everybody has one!) to be able to put my collection in it and take my music with me wherever I go. However, I will never let it replace the pleasure I get from collecting music and from playing a record or disc.